Vending-machine.



@Ky/l,

A. R. HUSSBY.

VENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION rum) M1027, 1910.

1,026,166.. Patented May 14, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Min/6 3 ses.'

A. R. HUSSBY.

VENDING MACHINE.

APPLmATxoN FILED nmz?. 1010.

.nism embodying this invention.

UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEroE.

ALFRED R. HUSSEY', OF HARVARD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN WATER SUPPLY OF NEW ENGLAND, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

. VENDING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 14, 1912.

Original application filed January 25, 1909, Serial No. 474,021. Divided and this application led December 27, 1910. Serial No. 599,464.

To all lwhom z't may concern Be it known that I, ALFRED R. HUssEY, residing at Harvard, in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Vending-Machines, o'f which the following is a specification.

This application is a division of my application for vending-machine #474,021, filed January 25, L1909, and relates particularly to delivering-mechanism for drinkingcups, whereby the'cups may be taken successively from a pile of nested cups and conveyed to a cup-support on which they are disposed in upright position.

The invention has for its object improvements in the construction of the cup-delivering mechanism to the end that the cups may be taken successively from a pile and conveyed to a posit-ion above a cup-support or table, their position being reversed in transit, and then released and permitted to fall by gravityonto said support, the releasing-means being operated automatically as soon as the cups are brought into position above the support.

By my improvements the cup is automatically disposed on the cup-support, in upright position, Within easy reach of the operator.

Figure l is a front elevation of a vending-machine. having cup-delivering mecha- Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the machine shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an end View of the oscillating-member bearing the cup-receiver. Fig. 4 is a side view of the oscillatingmember bearing the cup-receiver. Fig. 5 is a vert-ical section of the oscillating-member taken on the dotted line 5 5, Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 5, the oscillating-member being inverted. Fig. 7 isA a horizontal section of the oscillating-member taken on the dotted line 7 7, Fig. 6.

a represents a dome erected upon a hollow frame a and having Within it a chamber of suitable shape and size to receive a pile of cups, represented at b, Fig. el., the cups of said pile being inverted and nested together. The cups each have a lip b at its upper end and they are successively removed from the pile by means provided for engaging the lips thereof. lVithin the hollow frame a an oscillating-member is placed which is adapted to remove a cup from the pile when turned in one direction, and to deliver a cup upon a cup-support when turned in the opposite direction.

The oscillating-member comprises essentially two disks or end plates c, c', suitably spaced apart and joined together by a connecting portion c2. Said disks and connecting portions may be integrally formed if desired. The disks c, c are arranged to fit and turn freely in circular recesses formed in the interior of the hollow frame a', being thus supported by said frame and free to oscillate therein. Said-disks have arranged upon their inner or adjacent sides suitable cup-engaging flanges c3, which are made substantially alike and oppositely disposed, and said flanges extend about half Way around the disks, near the outer edges thereof. The inner sides of said disks lare also provided with bosses, as will be described, and said disks and the flanges and bosses thereon, are made'alike or substantially so, hence one only need be described. The flange c3 is formed with a circular outer edge, see Fig. 5, arranged concentric to the axis of the disk, and a circular inner edge arranged eccentric to said axis, so that said flange is pointed at one end and is made of gradually increasing width toward and preferably to its opposlte end. The boss c4, is arranged inside of the flange c3, and its vouter edge is curved concentric to the inner edge of the flange, and it is disposed a short distance from said flange, so that a groove or way is provided between it and said flange. Said boss'does not extend-the en? tire length of the flange but from the point of the flange toward yet not to its opposite end. The end portion of the flange, opposite its point, is made movable laterally but in an outward direction only, and, as here shown, Vsaid movable portion c5 is hinged to the immovable portion, and the disk is cut away to provide for such outward movement of said movable portion c5. The mov` able portion c5 has on its outer side a finger c, which engages the interior of the frame a', or a plate secured therein. As the disk oscillates, said movable portion is held in alinement with the immovable portion until it arrives at the end of the stroke, when said finger enters a cam-groove c7 formed 1n the a plate cs frame, or plate therein, which acts to positively move outward said movable portion.

. ing-member which isarranged between the two disks or end-supports is provided with a cup-receiver, which, as here shown, consists of a short tubular portion e rising from said connecting-portion c2, .and having sveveral laterally extended wings e', four being herein shown', and said wings are made tapering from end to end to thereby form a conical structureto receive upon it an inverted cup, as shown by dotted lines Fig. 5.

'()ne of the disks, as c', has connected .with it a disk or plate f which fits a circular opening in one end of the framed', and which is provided with a hand-piece f by which'it may be turned -to oscillate the member. As here shown, said disk c has a shouldered arbor c1", which extends through a centerhole in the fixed plate 08 and through a center-hole in the disk or plate f, and said disk or plate f is secured to said arbor, thereby connectingsaid disk or plate f with the osl cillating-member..

' frame of Normally the parts are in the position shown in Figs. 4 and 5, and at suchtime the pile of cups rests upon the outer edges of the flanges c3 onl the disks c, c,o1c the oscillating-member. As the oscillating-member is given a half turn in one direction by the hand-piece f', as for instance, in a direction toward the right, Fig. 5, its position is reversed, andfthe lconical cup-receiver and other' parts are movedy into the posltion shown in Fig. 6, and when in this position the two movable portions c5 of the iangesare caused to swing outwardly, as represented in Fig. 7

If a cup is reposing on the conical cupreceiver, as it should atsuch time, it will be free to fallby gravity upon a cup-support g, see Fig. 1, which is provided in the the machine beneath the oscillating-member, for it will be seen that the movable portions c5 are swung outwardlyso that the downward path of movement. ofV the-cup is unobstructed-but unless said portions cE are swung outwardly the cup on the cup-v receiver cannot pass to the cup-support by gravity alone. Asv the oscillating-member resumes itsnormal position the pointed ends of the ange c3 pass over the' upper sides of the lip of the lowermost inverted cup of the pile, gradually withdrawing" said cup therefrom as the lip follows along thegroove or way -which is provided between the flanges and the bosses on the disks,

while the remaining cups of the pile rest on the .outer edges of said tianges, and then as the cup-receiver resumes its upright posi tion the inverted cup passes out of the groove or Way and falls by gravity upon said receiver, preparatory to being delivered to the cup-support when the oscillatingmember is again operated. ,Hence it will be seenv that as the oscillating-member is moved in one direction the cup which reposes on the cup-receiverwill be delivered upon the cup-support and when moved in the opposite direction or returned to its normal position the lowermost cup of the pile will be taken-therefrom and delivered to the cupreceiver. The particular novel featuresA of my invention consist in the movable porv tions c5, which provide for releasing the cup,-

permitting it to fall by gravity upon the cup-support, when but not until the cup has been turned into upright position, said movable portions thereby serving as releasingdevices for the cup; and also in the particuv connectedl at one end tothe frame-Work and v at the other end to a cylindrical frame j,

see Figs. 2 and 3. y

The disk c has a journal 012, which has its bearings inl a bar h, see Fig. 3, secured tothe frame, and said bar is designed to serve as a limiting stop to limit the movement of the oscillating-member in both di- 'At-tached to a water-'scoop or dipper; Said support, as herein shown, is made as a hollow cylinder j, open at each end. It is attachedto the disk at its lowerv edge only, leaving an open space above said connecting portion for the bar L, and said connecting portion by striking against said bar limits the oscillating movement of the oscillating-member.

l. In a vending 4machine wherein cups are successively taken from a pile and con-.

veyedto a cup-support,'the combination of means for supporting a pile of invert-ed cups, an oscillating-member having means vfor removing the'lowermost cup from the described.

2. In a vending machine wherein cups are taken from a pile and 4conveyed to a cupthe disk c is a support for Support, the combination of means for supporting a pile of inverted cups, an oscillating-member having a cup-receiver and having tapering cup-engaging flanges provided with outwardly movable end portions, and means for positively moving outward said end portions as the member bearing them is oscillated to permit the cup to fall upon the 'cup-support, substantially as described.

3. In a vending machine, the combination of a cup-support, Y an oscillating-member having acup-receiver adapted to receive upon it lan inverted cup and having releasing-devices for the cup, permitting itto fall from said receiver upon said support 15 by gravity, and means for oscillating sald member and for operating said releasingdevices, substantially'as described.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of 20 two subscribing Witnesses.

ALFRED R. HUSSEY.

Witnesses:

B. J .`NoYEs, H. B. DAVIS. 

